Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations

The candidates for state attorney general last night squared off over Proposition 215, the 1996 initiative that "sought to allow ill people to obtain marijuana for medicinal purposes." In a televised debate, state Sen. Bill Lockyer (D) said he voted for Prop. 215 "because his mother and sister died of leukemia at early ages." Calling Lockyer a "1960s Bay Area liberal," Chief Deputy AG Dave Stirling (R) said "he opposed the initiative and that there should be further study of whether marijuana actually helps with some conditions." Lockyer contended that Stirling and state AG Dan Lungren (R) were doing "'all they could' to keep marijuana from ill people who believe they need it." Both candidates agreed that "the law should be improved to insure that those who truly need marijuana could get it" (Morain, Los Angeles Times, 10/13). Click medical marijuana for past CHL coverage of the issue.

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